Method and apparatus for fibrous article engagement and disengagement - including two different needle types

ABSTRACT

A succession of fibrous sheet segments (10) are supplied from a rotary magazine (12) to a rotating bowl (14). Segments are added to the bowl with their adjacent radial edges abutting each other and are passed beneath a reciprocating needle board (20), whereby filaments from the segments in upper layers are displaced into segments in lower layers to bind the segments together and form a self-supporting preform. Two needle heads (22) are able to move up and down and rotate in order to pick up a segment from the store and deposit that segment on the bowl. A few barbed needles (22A) pick up the segment and more grooved needles (22B) push through fibre to tack the segments down. A conical roller (28) bears against the top of the segments after they leave the needle board to bear against the preform to compress the fibres and also to provide a monitor of the distance between the needle board or the mounting block and the top layer of the preform.

This application is a national stage application, according to ChapterII of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. This application claims thepriority date of Jan. 24, 1992 for Great Britain Patent Application No.9201605.4.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of, and apparatus for engagingand disengaging a fibrous article, and to methods of, and apparatus forforming a fibrous assembly. The present invention is particularly,although not exclusively, applicable to fibrous articles which are to bemade into fibrous assemblies or polyacrylonitrile filaments which aresubsequently heated and transformed into a carbon-carbon product for usewith brakes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention a method of engagingand disengaging a fibrous article comprises causing relative movementbetween a support for the article and a first type of needle such thatthe first type of needle is caused to extend into the article; causingrelative movement between the support and the first type of needle suchthat the first type of needle now provides the support for the articleby engaging the fibres of the article, and then engaging the articlewith a support by causing relative movement between a support for thearticle and a second type of needle such that the second type of needleis caused to extend through the fibrous article and to take fibres outof the general extent of the article into the support to engage with thesupport.

After the fibres have been engaged with the support, the method mayfurther comprise causing relative movement between the second type ofneedle and the article such that the second type of needle comes backthrough the article and the article remains engaged with the support andis disengaged from the needles.

The method may comprise causing relative movement between the first andsecond type of needles and the support or article simultaneously.

The method may comprise the second type of needle extending into but notthrough the article when the first type of needle supports the article.

The method may comprise moving the first and second type of needles tocause the relative movement.

The method may comprise engaging the article with the first type ofneedle from a first support and then engaging fibres of the article witha second support different from the first support.

The method may comprise engaging the article with the first type ofneedle from an upwardly facing support and, alternatively oradditionally, disengaging the article from the needles by engagingfibres of the article with an upwardly facing support.

The method may comprise reorientating the article when the first type ofneedle supports the article. The reorientating of the article may beachieved by moving the article about a pivot axis.

The method may comprise using less of the first type of needle than thesecond type. The density of the first type of needle may be greatertowards an edge region of the article than in a central region of thearticle.

The method may comprise the second type of needle causing the article toengage with a support comprising a fibrous support. That fibrous supportmay be provided by a fibrous article which has itself previously beenengaged with another support by a second type of needle.

The second type of needle may cause the article to engage with arotatable support which support may be rotating during engagement.

The first type of needle may engage the fibres of an article located ona rotatable support and may engage the fibres of the article when thesupport is rotating. Alternatively or additionally, the first type ofneedle may be arranged to engage an article from a stack of sucharticles.

The method may comprise a first set of first and second type of needlesand a second set of first and second type of needles operating suchthat, when the first type of needle from the first set is engaging thefibres of a first article the second type of needles of the second setis able to extend through the fibres of a second article to engagefibres of said second article with another support.

The method may comprise causing relative movement between the two typesof needles.

The method may comprise causing relative movement between the needlesand a stripper board.

The method may comprise engaging the article with the first type ofneedle when in an extended position and engaging the article with asupport by causing the second type of needle to move from a retracted toan extended position. The method may further comprise moving the firsttype of needle from the extended to a retracted position. The method maycomprise causing the relative movement of the two types of needlebetween the retracted to the extended positions relative to a stripperboard.

According to another aspect of the present invention, fibrous articleengagement and disengagement apparatus comprises a first type of needlewhich is arranged to engage and support fibres of an article and asecond type of needle which is arranged to move relative to a fibrousarticle to push fibres through the general extent of that article.

The first and second type of needle may be fixed relative to each other.

The portion of the first type of needle which is arranged to engage withfibres of the article may be arranged to be located nearer to an articlewhich apparatus is arranged to approach than the portion of the secondtype of needle which is arranged to push fibres through the generalextent of the article.

The first type of needle may have a greater density towards an outerregion than towards an inner region. There may be more second types ofneedle than first type. The second type of needle may be generallyevenly distributed.

The first type of needle may be movable, and may be movable in twotransverse directions, one of which directions may be about a pivotaxis.

The first and second type of needle may be movable relative to eachother. An actuator may be provided arranged to cause movement of onetype of needle relative to the other. Each type of needle may be movablebetween an extended position in which, in use, the needles of that typeextend at least partially into a fibrous article and a retractedposition in which the needles of that type do not extend into a fibrousarticle.

The apparatus may include a stripper board. The tips of one or bothtypes of needle may be arranged to be retracted into the stripper boardwhen in the retracted position.

The apparatus may include a first set of first and second types ofneedle and a second set of first and second types of needle. The firstand second sets may be spaced from each other. The first and second setsmay be movable and may be constrained to move simultaneously.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method offorming a fibrous assembly from a plurality of fibrous layers comprisesforming a stack of layers by rotating the stack during formation andneedling the stack such that fibres from a more recently added layerextend into the previous layer, and tacking the most recently addedlayer to the previous layer prior to needling that most recently addedlayer whereby the tacking force is sufficient to substantially preventradial inwards movement of the layer as it passes into the needling.

The tacking may be achieved by the second type of needle as previouslyreferred to.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, fibrous assemblyforming apparatus comprises a rotatable support on which fibrous layersare arranged to be successively placed to rotate therewith, needlingapparatus including an array of reciprocatable needles arranged to passthrough a plurality of fibrous layers to carry fibres from a morerecently added layer into a previously added layer and tacking meansarranged to tack a most recently added layer to a previously added layerprior to that most recently added layer reaching the needling apparatus.

The tacking means may include a second type of needle as previouslyreferred to.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method offorming a fibrous assembly from a plurality of fibrous articlescomprises article supply means automatically providing successivearticles to build up successive layers of the assembly, and causingfibres from at least some subsequently supplied layers to extend into atleast some previously supplied layer to engage the layers with eachother.

The supply means may cause some fibres from an article being supplied toextend into a previously supplied article.

The supply means may supply articles onto previously supplied, rotatingarticles. The supply of articles to the rotating assembly being formedmay be coordinated with the rotation such that, for example, a newlysupplied article abuts the immediately previously supplied article.

The supply means may remove articles to be added to the assembly from astack of articles or, alternatively or additionally from a rotatablestore of articles.

The method may comprise using the first and second type of needles aspreviously referred to which comprise the supply means.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, fibrous assemblyforming apparatus includes supply means arranged to supply successivefibrous articles to be incorporated into a fibrous assembly and fibredisplacement means arranged to cause fibre from one article to extendinto another article to engage the articles.

The supply means may include means for engaging a fibrous article andmeans for disengaging the fibrous article from the supply means. Thesupply means may include means for engaging the fibres of an articlewith a previously supplied article when disengaging the article from thesupply means. The supply means may include the first and second type ofneedle as previously referred to.

The supply means may include a stack of articles arranged to be suppliedand may include a rotatable magazine for articles to be supplied.

The apparatus may include control means arranged coordinate the supplyof articles as the assembly is being built up.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method offorming a fibrous assembly from a plurality of fibrous layers in whichthe layers are successively stacked and fibres from at least some of thelayers extend into at least one adjacent layer to engage the layerscomprises exerting a compressive force on the layers as the number oflayers in the stack increases.

The method may comprise exerting the compressive force on substantiallythe complete width of the layers.

The method may comprise exerting the compressive force throughout theperiod during which the layers are stacked.

The method may comprise exerting the force on the layers after at leastsome of the fibres from a most recently stacked layer have been causedto extend into an adjacent layer.

The method may comprise maintaining the compressive force substantiallyconstant.

The method may comprise increasing the distance between a member actingon one side of the stack to exert a compressive force on that side andthe other side of the stack. The method may comprise increasing thatdistance in dependence upon the compressive force being exerted on thestack. The method may comprise maintaining one side of the stack at asubstantially constant location during build up of the stack.

The method may comprise rotating the stack during stacking of the layerswith the layers extending generally radially with respect to that axis.The compression may be applied by a roller which, for instance when thestack is to be rotated during formation, may be a frusto conical member.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a fibrousassembly forming apparatus comprises engagement means for causing fibresin at least some layers in a stack to extend into at least one adjacentlayer and compression means arranged to act on one side of a stack.

The compression means may be arranged to act on the stack after thefibre displacement means have caused fibres in at least some layers in astack to extend into at least one adjacent layer.

The compression means may comprise a roller and may comprise a frustoconical member.

The compression means may be arranged to act across the complete widthof the stack.

Adjustment means may be provided, which means are arranged to vary thedistance between the compression means acting on one side of the stackand the other side of the stack.

The adjustment means may be arranged to be operable in dependence uponthe compression force being exerted by the compression means.

Monitoring means may be arranged to maintain the compressive forcesubstantially constant.

The present invention also includes a fibrous article which has beenformed by a method or apparatus as herein referred to.

The present invention includes any combination of the herein describedfeatures and limitations.

The present invention may be carried into practice in various ways, butone embodiment will now be described by way of example and withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a machine for forming a shapedfibrous fabric structure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of two types of needle used with the machineshown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematical cross-sectional view of the two types of needleshown in FIG. 3 showing their mounting arrangement with respect to astripper board, and

FIG. 5 is a schematic isometric view showing the orientation of aconical roller in relation to the fabric structure during its formation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is designed to produce a disc shapedpreform of polyacrylonitrile filaments. The preform may be carbonised,impregnated with a resin and then baked at a very high temperature sothat both the fibrous filaments and the resin are changed to acarbonaceous form whereby there is produced a shaped article made ofcarbon reinforced with carbon fibres.

The polyacrylonitrile material is rendered suitable for carbonising byat least partial oxidation effected by passing the material through afurnace containing an oxidising atmosphere. It emerges from theoxidation process in the form of a continuous single filament textilefibre, that is to say, it is flexible and capable of being woven.However, the filamentary material has a highly polished surface sheenand is consequently quite difficult to handle.

For use in the process of the invention, the material is obtained in towform and in a specific example, each tow is constituted by some 320,000continuous filaments. It is necessary to assemble the filaments in theform of a uni-directional sheet (warp). The filament should be held tautand touching each other to produce total "cover" of the planar area ofthe sheet and in a typical example the thickness of the sheen offilaments is about 3 millimeters.

The applicants' co-pending European Patent Application published underNo. 0 424 988 shows apparatus and methods for forming fabric sheets andsegments of fabric sheets for use in forming the preform, as well asapparatus and methods for forming that preform. The disclosure of thatearlier application is hereby incorporated into the presentspecification and any of the segments referred to herein may be formedas described in that earlier publication.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a succession of segments 10 are supplied froma rotary magazine 12 to a rotating bowl 14. The rotating bowl includes acentral pillar 16, and an outer cylindrical wall 18 with which the innerand outer circumferential portions respectively of each segmentco-operate to locate the segments in the radial direction. The base ofthe bowl which supports the preform may be fixed relative to the pillarwall 18 or, alternatively may be movable in an axial direction in orderthat the top of the preform, as it is being built up, can remain at agenerally constant elevation with the bottom of the preform graduallygetting lower.

The segments are added with their adjacent radial edges abutting eachother and are passed beneath a reciprocating needle board 20 as theboard rotates. The needles displace filaments from the segments in upperlayers to the segments in lower layers to bind the segments together andform the self supporting shape required of the preform.

When the leading part of a segment passes beneath the reciprocating heada radially inwards force is exerted on the segment which, if notopposed, would draw the trailing part of the segment inwards and preventthe correct formation of the preform. Each of the two needle heads 22shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is able to pick up a segment from the store anddeposit that segment on the rotating bowl and enable the segment, whenit reaches the reciprocating needle board 20, to resist the inwardsforce then experienced. The needle heads do this in the following way.

The heads include downwardly projecting needles 22A and 22B (shown inFIG. 3) which extend over an area corresponding to the shape of asegment. The density of the needles on the heads 22 is significantlyless than the density of the needles on the reciprocating board 20.Furthermore the needles include two types of needle; those with areverse barb 22A and the conventional needles 22B which push fibres inthe direction in which the end of the needle is pushed. Approximately15, 20 or 30, reverse barb needles 22A are provided as compared to the200 or 300 conventional needles 22B.

The reverse barb needles may extend downwardly to the same extent as theconventional needles or may extend further downwardly from theconventional needles. When picking up a segment from the magazine 12 acontrol arm 24 is rotated about its axis and lowered by a control means26 to bring the ends of the needles towards the segment in the store 12.The reverse barb needles 22A enter the segment, and may pass through thesegment for the barbs to engage with fibres so that, when the head israised by the control arm 24, the segment is caused to be lifted. Thereverse barb is provided by a needle having an upright "v" portion ascompared to the conventional needles 22B which present a downwardlyfacing "v". To assist in the lifting action, the reverse barb needlesare located mainly around the periphery of the segment, but a relativelyfew reverse barb needles are also located over the inner portion of thesegment. Where the reverse barb needles 22A enter a segment but do notpass through it, the heads 22 may lift a top segment off a stack ofsegments from the magazine. Alternatively, the reverse barb needles 22Acan lift a single segment 10 from each compartment of the magazine.

When a needle head 22 has engaged a segment, the head is raised, bylifting the control arm 24, and moved so that the segment is over thebowl 14, by rotating the arm 24, and then deposited onto the base of thebowl or a lower fibrous layer, by lowering the arm 24.

As the arm 24 is lowered, the conventional needles 22B are caused topush through and extend downwardly below the segment which has beenmaneuvered. Those conventional needles 22B push the fibres of thesegment shown into a lower layer or layers to cause fibres to engage andhold the segment "tacked down". The head 22 is then raised clear of thesegment, and the modest force exerted by the reverse barb needles 22Aduring the raising of the head is negligible compared to the tack downforce effected by the conventional needles 22B and the segment remainsin place. Accordingly, with simple reciprocal movement of the head afibrous segment can be lifted, deposited and tacked down.

The control arm 24 is described as performing the rotational movement,to alter the location of the heads 22, and the reciprocal movement toenable the segments to be picked up or tacked down. In an alternativeembodiment (not shown), the arm 24 does not reciprocate and instead eachhead is individually reciprocally mounted, and possibly the stroke ofeach head may be different or variable for instance in dependence uponwhether a segment is being picked up or tacked down.

Control means (not shown) may be provided to coordinate rotation of themagazine, rotation of the bowl and the pick up and tack down of thesegments. The bowl can be halted or slowed down when the segments aretacked down. Alternatively, the segments can be tacked down whilst thebowl is rotating at its normal rate.

Once the segment has been tacked down, rotation of the bowl brings thesegment towards the needle board 20 and the fibres of the segment arepushed down into lower layers to interengage the layers further. Theinwards force exerted on the segment during the early engagement of theneedle head with the top segment is resisted by the tacking down of thesegment achieved during deposition.

FIG. 4 shows an alternative arrangement for the barb needles 22A and theconventional needles 22B in which the needles may be moved independentlyfrom each other upon operation of actuators 46A and 46B. Apart from therelative movement and the consequential difference in operation, themovement of the head to pick up, relocate and deposit a segment is aspreviously described. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, during pick upof a segment, the reverse barb needles extend beneath a stripper board48 and the conventional needles 22B have their tips co-extensive withthe needle board, as shown in the figure. During pick up only thereverse barb needles 22A penetrate the segment.

Upon deposition the head 50 is lowered until the segment engaged by theneedles 22A is located on top of a preceding segment and the stripperboard 48 rests on, or urges the segment downwardly. The actuator 46A isthen operated to retract the reverse barb needles 22A from the segmentand the actuator 46B is operated to push the needles 22B downwardlythrough the segment into the layer or layers beneath. If desired theactuator 46A could be operated before, or at the same time as, or afterthe operation of the actuator 46B. The actuator 46B is then operatedagain to cause the needles 22B to be retracted from the preform and thecomplete head and stripper board are then moved away from the preform.

As shown in FIG. 5, a conical roller 28 is provided. The roller 28 isarranged to bear against the top of the segments immediately after theyleave the needle board 20. The roller 28 is rotatably mounted on an arm30 which has a mounting plate 32 at the upper end. A series of bolts(not shown) are arranged to pass through openings 34 in the plate 32into threaded openings 36 formed in a mounting block 38 (shown in FIG.1). The needle board 20 is supported by, and extends downwardly from themounting block 38. A series of screws 40 are located at each cornerregion of the block and threadably engage the block. By rotating thescrews 40 with drive means (not shown) the block 38 is raised orlowered. Raising of the block, for instance, may be required to enable acomplete preform to be removed from the bowl with lowering of the blockenabling the needles to engage the next preform.

The roller 28 serves two purposes, the first being to bear against thepreform to compress the fibres and the second being to monitor thedistance between the needle board or mounting block 38 and the top layerof the preform.

The axis of the roller extends along a radial line with respect to therotational axis of the bowl 14, and across the extent of the preform.Accordingly, the complete upper surface of the preform is subjected tothe compression force of the roller during a revolution and the fibresare compressed to approximately 0.6 g/cc. The conical shape of theroller corresponds to the variation in circumferential speed of thepreform as the radial distance from the rotational axis of the bowlvaries. Accordingly no slipping occurs between the preform and any partof the roller.

As previously mentioned, the base of the bowl which supports the preformmay be movable in an axial direction so that, as the preform is builtup, the base moves down to maintain the distance between the top of theneedle stroke and the upper layer of the preform substantially constant.A biasing force (not shown) may be exerted to oppose downwards movementof the base of the bowl, and the roller may push against the top of thepreform to cause the base to be pushed down when the downwards forceexerted by the roller through the compressed preform exceeds the biasingforce acting upwardly on the base. That biasing force may be appliedhydraulically, pneumatically or mechanically such as by a spring, or inany other convenient way.

Alternatively, the base of the bowl can be lowered in steps which may betriggered by the engagement of cams 42 constrained to rotate with thebowl with a stationary switch 44. The base can be lowered upon eachengagement by a predetermined amount. Alternatively the size of the stepcan be varied in dependence upon the upwards force exerted by thepreform on the roller by means of a strain gauge incorporated above theroller (not shown). Alternatively or additionally, whether there is tobe a step or not, the downwards movement of the base of the bowl may becontrolled by a program which may, for instance, cause the elevation ofthe base to remain constant during several revolutions after the lastsegment has been added to result in the upper layers receiving a greaterdegree of needling and therefore further compaction and interengagementthan would otherwise be the case.

We claim:
 1. A method of engaging and disengaging a fibrous article froma first type of needle with there being a second type of needle, a firstsupport and a second support, the method comprising the steps of:(a)causing relative movement between the first support with which thearticle is associated and the first type of needle such that the firsttype of needle is caused to extend into the article; (b) causingrelative movement between the first support and the first type of needlesuch that the first type of needle provides the support for the articleby first engaging the fibers of the article; and (c) engaging thearticle with the second support by causing relative movement between thesecond support for the article and the second type of needle such thatthe second type of needle is caused to extend through the fibrousarticle and take fibers out of the article and into the second supportto engage those fibers with the second support.
 2. A method as claimedin claim 1, wherein after the fibers have been engaged with the secondsupport relative movement between the second type of needle and thearticle is caused such that the second type of needle comes back throughthe article and the article remains engaged with the second support andis disengaged from the needles.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2,and including the step of moving the first and second type of needlessimultaneously relative to the article.
 4. A method as claimed in claim1, and including the step of extending the second type of needle intobut not through the article when the first type of needle supports thearticle.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the steps ofcausing relative movement comprises the step of moving the first andsecond type of needles.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, and includingthe steps of engaging the article with the first type of needle from thefirst support and then engaging fibers of the article with the secondsupport.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, and including the step ofengaging the article with the first type of needle from the firstsupport which first support includes a support surface that faces thefirst type of needles.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, and includingthe step of disengaging the article from the needles by engaging fibersof the article with the second support, which second support includes anupwardly facing second support surface that faces the needles.
 9. Amethod as claimed in claim 1, and including the step of reorienting thearticle when the first type of needle supports the article.
 10. A methodas claimed in claim 1, and including the step of using fewer of thefirst type of needle than the second type of needle.
 11. A method asclaimed in claim 10, wherein the article has an edge region and acentral region and wherein the density of the first type of needle isgreater towards the edge region of the article than in the centralregion of the article.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 1, and includingthe step of the second type of needle causing the article to engage withthe second support, wherein the second support comprises a fibroussupport.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the fibroussupport comprises a fibrous article which has itself previously beenengaged with another support by the second type of needle.
 14. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the first type of needle engages anarticle from a stack of such articles.
 15. A method as claimed in claim1, and including the steps of:(a) providing a first set of said firstand said second types of needles; (b) providing a second set of saidfirst and said second types of needles; and (c) operating said first setand said second set of needles such that, when the first type of needlefrom the first set is engaging the fibers of a first article, the secondtype of needles of the second set is able to extend through the fibersof a second article to engage fibers of said second article with anothersupport.
 16. A method as claimed in claim 1, and including the step ofcausing relative movement between the two types of needles.
 17. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the method comprises forming a fibrousassembly, said assembly including a plurality of stacked layers, theassembly being formed by rotating the stacked layers during formationand needling the stacked layers such that fibers from a more recentlyadded layer extend into a previous layer, tacking of the most recentlyadded layer to the stacked layers prior to needling the most recentlyadded layer into the stacked layers, wherein the tacking force issufficient to substantially prevent radially-inwardly movement of thelayer as it passes into the needling, wherein the method uses the firsttype of needle to move a fibrous article to the stacked layers and usesthe second type of needle to engage and tack the most recently addedarticle to the stacked layers.
 18. Fibrous article engagement anddisengagement apparatus comprising a first type of needle having a freeend and a barb, the barb facing away from the free end of the needle,the first type of needle being arranged to engage fibers of a generallyplanar article in a first orientation and to support the article duringmovement of the article to a second orientation and a second type ofneedle which is mounted to move relative to a fibrous article to pushfibers through the plane of that article.
 19. Apparatus as claimed inclaim 18, and including fixing means, said fixing means fixing the firstand second type of needle relative to each other.
 20. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 19, wherein each of the first and second types ofneedles includes ends, the ends of the first type of needle extendingfurther than the ends of the second type of needle.
 21. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 18, in which the first and second types of needlesoccupy an area, said area having an outer region and an inner region,the first type of needle having a greater density towards said outerregion than towards said inner region of said area.
 22. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 18, in which there are more needles of the second typethan needles of the first type.
 23. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21,in which the second type of needle is generally evenly distributed overthe area.
 24. An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, and including a firstset of first and second types of needles and a second set of first andsecond types of needles.
 25. A method of forming a fibrous assemblyincluding a plurality of fibrous layers using a plurality of fibroussectors, the assembly having an axis, the method comprising the stepsof:(a) forming a stack of layers by rotating the stack about the axisduring formation and adding the fibrous sectors and needling the sectorsin the stack such that fibers from a more recently added sector extenddown into previous layers of sectors; and (b) tacking down the mostrecently added sector prior to the needling of that sector into theprevious layers with sufficient tacking force to substantially preventradially-inward movement of the segment toward the axis as the segmentpasses into the needling.
 26. A method according to claim 25, includingproviding sector supply means, the method including the step ofautomatically moving successive sectors to the assembly and then tackingdown the sectors, the sector supply means both moving and tacking downthe sectors.
 27. A fibrous assembly forming apparatus comprising:(a) arotatable support with fibrous sectors being arranged to be successivelyplaced on the support with the sectors rotating with the support; (b) aneedling apparatus including an array of reciprocatable needles arrangedto pass through a plurality of fibrous layers to carry fibers from onesector into another sector; and (c) tacking means arranged to tack saidone sector to another sector; and (d) rotation of the support beingarranged to move said one sector from said tacking means to saidneedling apparatus.
 28. Apparatus as claimed in claim 27, andincludingfibrous sector supply means, said sector supply means beingarranged to automatically provide successive sectors to the assembly;said sector supply means also comprising said tacking means.